Happy 30th Anniversary to Luniz’ debut album Operation Stackola, originally released July 4, 1995.
In 1995, the Golden Age of Gangsta Rap was coming to an end. Hard-edged music based on the reality of the inner cities was slowly becoming less en vogue, soon to be replaced by the “Shiny Suit era” of hip-hop music. Though I certainly didn’t enjoy the music of Puff Daddy and his ilk, it makes me happy that as the shift was beginning to start, the Bay Area duo Luniz released one of the best gangsta rap albums of all time, Operation Stackola.
Made up of Jerold “Yukmouth” Ellis Jr. and Garrick “Numskull” Husband, Luniz were a crew born in and shaped by Oakland, CA. Growing up in the height of the city’s crack era, the pair forged a path to success, first through illicit means, then as skilled emcees. Like many “street-based” emcees, they possessed keen powers of observation and were gifted storytellers. And like many of their gangsta rap contemporaries, they had a sharp sense of humor and expressed it through their rhymes. Their debut, released 30 years ago, was eventually certified platinum and featured one of the signature and enduring hits of the mid-1990s.
Luniz came up under fellow Oakland-based artist Dru Down. The duo appeared on many of the best tracks from Dru’s independently released debut album Fools From the Streets (1993) and the major label reissue Explicit Game (1994). Prior to 1995, they were best known for their appearance on “Ice Cream Man,” a well-known single/video from the project.
The duo was first credited as LuniTunes but changed their name to Luniz to avoid legal issues with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. After their initial success, they released their (Formerly Known as LuniTunes) EP (1994) through C-Note Records, the imprint of Oakland OG Chris Hicks a.k.a. C&H. Like their contributions to Dru’s debut, it featured a mix of humor, braggadocio, sex-related raps, and violence. It also utilized a decent amount of sample-based production.
Luniz soon signed with Noo-Trybe/Virgin Records and released their debut Operation Stackola, featuring about an hour’s worth of new material (only one song and a skit from the EP appear on the full-length). The group includes some humor, interspersed with much more macabre and patently ridiculous moments. There’s also some solid introspective material, along with heavy doses of death and devastation.
Both Operation Stackola and Luniz’ legends are built on “I Got 5 On It,” its first single and one of the all-time great weed anthems. The song is best known for its haunting keyboard-based track, which samples/replays elements from Club Nouveau’s “Why You Treat Me So Bad?”, and its iconic hook, sung by Timex Social Club’s Mike Marshall. The track became a summer anthem throughout the country and was arguably 1995’s single of the year; it was soon certified Platinum by the RIAA.
Luniz obviously knew they had a monster hit on their hands by the time they were putting together Operation Stackola. A less radio-friendly “reprise” version is included as the album’s final track, featuring a few new verses and incorporating/rearranging some of the original lyrics.
Listen to the Album:
For me, and I’d imagine many others in the Bay Area, the Bay Ballas Remix of the track is the definitive version of “I Got 5 On It.” The song plays like Bay Area’s “Flava In Ya Ear” remix, part of the mid-1990s phenomenon when artists would “remix” successful singles into posse cuts. Here, Luniz enlist such future icons as mentor Dru Down, Spice-1, Richie Rich, E-40, Shock G, and Humpty-Hump (plus Captain Save a Hoe does the outro ad-libs). You want to see an Oakland crowd go crazy? Play Richie Rich’s verse from the song (“Where you from? OAKLAND! SMOKING!”)
In contrast to their biggest hit, there’s an awful lot of dire material on Operation Stackola. Seasoned by their upbringing on the streets of East Oakland, Yukmouth and Numskull have a gift for portraying the lives and thought processes of young Black men pushed to the edge. Songs like the album-opening “Put The Lead On Ya” (featuring Dru Down), “Broke N****z,” and the title track are all tales of desperation-driven violence, where robbery and, at times, murder become necessities to ensure their own survival.
The duo take aim at institutional racism multiple times. On the DJ Fuse-produced “900 Blame A N***a,” they use gallows humor to express frustration towards police officers, politicians, and ignorant white people who view the Black population as scapegoats. The two rail against the criminal justice system on “Plead Guilty,” decrying crooked cops who view Black men as targets, setting them up to fail.
One of the oft-overlooked aspects of Operation Stackola’s success is its production. It’s one of the best produced projects of the era, featuring many immaculately crafted tracks. On “Playa Hata,” the album’s second single, EA-Ski and CMT replay portions of Bobby Caldwell’s “What You Won’t Do For Love” to create a melancholy track where the pair ruminate on their struggles with fame. The song also was the genesis of the group’s brief beef with Too Short, who they accused in interviews of not supporting up-and-coming Bay Area talent.
Shock G also lends his production talents to a pair of tracks. “Broke Ho’s” is a goofy but well-put together entry, effectively showcasing Shock’s piano skills as the pair of emcees lambast materialistic women. “5150” is the superior song, with Shock’s production setting the mood, as he layers synths and keyboards, while filtering in ghostly percussion and adding what sounds like muffled shouts of agony.
Both Numskull and Yukmouth exhibit dark humor to open the track: the pair are cast down into the depths of hell for eternity after arriving at Heaven’s Gate and cursing out Jesus (or, rather, Shock Geezus). But their verses are among the album’s best and most evocative. Numskull describes how the street life has driven him to be consumed by paranoia, unable to discern friend from foe. Meanwhile, Yukmouth weaves a fantastical tale of being gunned down in the street, only to be resurrected by Shock Geezus as an eagle-riding, golden bulletproof vest wearing, Tec-wielding avenging angel, sent on a holy mission to “kill Satan for playa hating.”
NOLA native N.O. Joe, best known for his work with Rap-A-Lot Records, is in top form on Operation Stackola, demonstrating a wide range of production styles. While the album’s title track is a sinister endeavor, “Pimps, Playas, and Hustlas” is a perfect g-funk rider song. The duo is again joined by Dru Down and Richie Rich, each delivering laid back (and occasionally deceptively violent) verses to lush keyboards and electric guitars. Richie Rich gives one of his strongest guest verses, declaring, “Now I know bitches that say ‘Richard, do what ya wanna’ / But like old Vogues, them bitches cry when I hit the corner.”
N.O. Joe also worked behind the boards for “Yellow Brick Road,” which serves as a much more serious version of “Ice Cream Man” and conveys Luniz’ origin story. Both explain in vivid detail how their upbringing set them on a path to sell drugs, growing up in an environment of poverty and urban decay where profiting from illicit substances was the only realistic way to make money.
Three decades later, “I Got 5 On It” is still considered an emblematic anthem of the era. Their verses about the pain, devastation, and exploitation that envelop Black communities across the country still ring true. Luniz used their gifts to laugh through the pain that life presents you and made a lasting impact that still endures. Operation Stackola is a gem that should not go overlooked.
Listen: